Leaders of some of the largest companies in the U.S. made a surprising announcement when they redefined a corporation’s purpose as not solely providing profit for shareholders. The Business Roundtable, a group of nearly 200 members include the CEOs of companies such as Amazon, Coca-Cola, Deloitte and Nasdaq, released a statement asserting that corporations should be committed to the needs and well-being of all of their stakeholders — including employees, customers, their local community and suppliers — as opposed to just their shareholders. This statement of purpose marks a departure from the commonly accepted business philosophy that the sole obligation of business is to increase profits in order to maximize value for shareholders.

This past June, John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, released “Divided Responsibility: Lessons Learned From U.S. Security Sector Assistance Efforts in Afghanistan,” a report detailing the progress of U.S. security sector assistance efforts focused on Afghanistan since 2001. In the report, Sopko outlines the factors that led to massive operational failures in the mission to develop the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior.

Most organizations understand that collaboration is a pillar of a successful company, yet in practice, it often does not happen. It is important and necessary to have goals and targets because they push your organization to perform at a higher level. However, without communication and collaboration between teams, the metrics can unknowingly pit departments against each other.

Recently, a former student (and a newly minted CFE) asked about what types of keywords they should be searching in job postings to help them attain their ultimate goal to be a fraud examiner. That led me to think about that question and what it means to search for a position.

In previous Fraud Magazine columns, I've written about how to define your areas of interest, limitations and ultimate career plans. These questions — and a thoughtful reflection period — can help you immensely in your career search.

Mitchel Huffman, CFE, works as a staff accountant at Rea & Associates, a “top 100” accounting firm based out of Ohio. Earlier this year, Huffman was thrilled to get the two years’ experience needed to become a CFE. During his time with Rea & Associates, Huffman has done both tax and assurance services. He was originally more interested in the tax route, but due to his firm’s assurance department needing staff, he shifted his focus to assurance work. As Huffman became more familiar with this work, he started to really enjoy it and is looking forward to where it takes him in the future.